The Bovespa fell 0.3 percent to 57,903.30 at the close of
trading in Sao Paulo, extending this week’s decline to 1
percent. The real weakened 0.5 percent to 1.9688 per dollar. The
Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials lost 0.4
percent after a report showed U.S. industrial production
unexpectedly shrank in January.

“The external outlook doesn’t look good, with things in
the U.S. showing no evidence of a sustained recovery,” Clodoir Vieira, an economist at Sao Paulo-based brokerage Souza Barros
Corretora, said in a phone interview. “If the world economy
stalls, it becomes more difficult for Brazil to speed up the
recovery. I don’t see any good news that could push equities
higher in the short run.”

Output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities fell 0.1
percent after a 0.4 percent increase in December, the Federal
Reserve said today. The median estimate among economists survey
by Bloomberg called for a 0.2 percent rise.

Growth has also been slumping in Brazil, where economists
estimate gross domestic product expanded at its slowest pace in
three years in 2012.

OGX, Vale

The government is slated to release retail sales figures
for December on Feb. 19 while the central bank is scheduled to
report foreign investment numbers for January on Feb. 22. The
government is also scheduled to release the reading on its main
consumer price index through mid-month on Feb. 22. Inflation
quickened to a one-year high of 6.15 percent in January, above
the 4.5 percent midpoint of the central bank’s target range.

Companies including exchange operator BM&F Bovespa SA,
state-run lender Banco do Brasil SA and steelmaker Usinas
Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA are set to report earnings next
week. Eight of the 11 companies listed in the Bovespa index that
have reported quarterly results have missed earnings estimates,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Trading Volume

The Bovespa has dropped 8.5 percent from this year’s high
on Jan. 3 amid concern that accelerating inflation may curb
Brazil’s economic recovery and that the government’s
interventionist policies will hurt profits in industries
including utilities and energy.

Brazil’s benchmark equity gauge trades at 10.9 times
analysts’ earnings estimates for the next four quarters,
compared with 10.4 for MSCI’s measure of 21 developing nations’
equities, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Trading volume for stocks in Sao Paulo was 7.1 billion
reais today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That
compares with a daily average of 7.54 billion reais this year
through Feb. 13, according to data compiled by the exchange.